Instead of putting out a welcome mat for Justin Simmons, the Broncos treated him like one.
“You know, Javonte (Williams) and I meet, or whatever it is, a couple yards away from the end zone, both of us driving our feet,” Simmons, the ex-Broncos safety and fan favorite recalled after his Falcons got run over at Empower Field by a score of 38-6.
“(And) their linemen came in and pushed. Yeah, I’ve got to find a different way to get them down.”
Spoiler alert: He didn’t.
Simmons, a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Broncos from 2016-2023, landed an Empower Field homecoming to forget Sunday. A stalwart in orange and blue was left black and blue, as his old squad piled up 400 yards of offense, with 307 coming through the air.
But the lowest moment, personally and geographically, came with 6:25 left in the first half. That’s when he took on Williams, the Broncos’ bruising tailback, during an open-field, 1-on-1 showdown. Or one that started out that way, at least.
In a play that went viral on Simmons for all the wrong reasons, the defender at first appeared to stand Williams up, the two stalemating for a half-second at the Atlanta 4-yard line.
Teammates from both sides rushed in to help — only the Broncos handily won the rugby scrum that followed.
An orange pile slammed into the pair, the blue helmets outnumbering the white Falcons jerseys who’d joined the fray. At least five Denver reinforcements, led by wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, shoved Williams and Simmons into the end zone for a 13-3 Broncos lead.
“I know I’m close, so I’m not thinking to throw them this way,” Simmons explained. “I (can’t) throw them into the end zone, so I’m trying to just drive my feet …
“Sure, there’s multiple things I probably didn’t (do). But in my head … I’m the last line of defense. I’m just trying to drive them back.”
Following the play, Simmons seen was lying on his back in the end zone, wondering if anybody had gotten the number of that truck. I counted at least six: 33 (Williams), 84 (Humphrey), 77 (Quinn Meinerz), 74 (Ben Powers), 17 (Devaughn Vele) and 14 (Courtland Sutton).
“It’s one of those things I’ll probably have to look at the film and reevaluate,” Simmons reflected. “But I don’t think that’s a by-product of exactly how the game went. I think that’s just a little sample size. And, yeah, that definitely doesn’t help.”
Sunday was Simmons’ 62nd game at Empower Field but his first as an opponent. It also turned into his worst-ever margin of defeat (32 points) in the Mile High City, besting an ignominious 48-19 drubbing of the Broncos by the Bills here in 2020.
Denver’s offensive line Sunday had a lot to do with that. So did Bo Nix, who turned in his best performance yet as an NFL signal-caller, completing 28 of 33 passes.
“I said it in a podcast with (ex-Bronco) Todd Davis leading up to the game. I think the progression from Bo, watching the tape leading up to this game, from Week 1 to now … has gotten tremendously better each and every week,” Simmons said of the rookie QB1. “So when you have a really good arm and you trust your arm, it can be hard sometimes in the pocket not to take the deep shot.
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“And for the most part, we were taking away a lot of the deep plays that they wanted to run, and he was just being consistent and checking it down and letting his skill players do what they’ve done all year — taking a check-down, getting nine, 10 yards, moving the chains, running the ball really well. Yeah, he was just operating at a high level and defensively, we couldn’t break that.”
Simmons tried. At one point, in an attempt to fire up his new teammates, No. 31 even got a little chippy about Denver during a pregame huddle speech.
“In front of their home crowd,” the longtime Bronco, who was cut as a salary-cap casualty this past March, was heard shouting at his fellow Falcons. “(Expletive) them!”
Some welcome. Even if the Broncos didn’t hear him, it’s safe to say the football gods did.
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